Eversheds Sutherland advises on sale of Phenna

Eversheds Sutherland has advised the shareholders of Phenna Group (Phenna), including longstanding client Inflexion, a leading mid-market private equity firm, on its agreed sale to Oakley Capital in a transaction that values Phenna at over £1bn.

Phenna is a global business focused on the Testing, Inspection, Certification and Compliance (TICC) sector.

Eversheds Sutherland acted as lead counsel on the sale to all of the shareholders of Phenna. The announcement marks the 10th exit announced by Inflexion during 2022, and the fourth on which the global law firm has advised.

The Eversheds Sutherland team was led by Richard Moulton, Partner and Co-Head of the Global Corporate and M&A Team assisted by: Partners Colin Askew (tax) and Christopher Akinrele (banking), Principal Associates Russell Naglis (corporate) and Charlie Markillie (competition), Senior Associate Matthew Cummings (tax), and Associates Megan Irons and Philip Smith (both corporate).  

The sale of its minority stake in Phenna adds to Inflexion’s impressive history of successfully backing businesses in the sector, with successful investments including Alcumus, British Engineering Services and Cawood Scientific.

Richard Moulton, Eversheds Sutherland, said:

“We’ve had the pleasure of working with Inflexion on a number of its noteworthy transactions this year, building on our relationship with Inflexion and leveraging our global capability to meet its exact needs. We’re thrilled to have once again advised and look forward to providing ongoing support on future opportunities.”

Mark Williams, Partner, Inflexion, said:

“The Eversheds Sutherland team is one of our longstanding trusted advisors, and we are delighted with the service they have once again provided on another of our strategic transactions.”

Thomas Gray, General Counsel, Phenna, said:

“The high standards and professionalism that we have come to expect from Eversheds Sutherland have shone through on this deal, and we are pleased to have such a first class legal partner.”